Preview: Rockefeller Carillon New Music Festival Will Ring Out This Friday and Saturday

May 23, 2018

By Louis Harris

The Rockefeller Chapel will be hosting the Carillon New Music Festival this Friday afternoon/evening and all day Saturday. This festival features the world premieres of 16 works, including several commissioned by the Rockefeller Chapel, which is on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park.

While the carillon bells of the Rockefeller Chapel will be the focus, several of the works include other instruments and several players. One work commissioned by the Chapel, Introduction and Aria, by Geert D’hollander, was written for carillon and trombone. Laura Steenberge’s Red Shift was written for carillon and electronics. A new work by University of Chicago Music School Ph.D. candidate Rodrigo Bussad, A Brazilian Suite for a carillon duet, will also receive its premiere. Other composers having their works premiered include Emily Cooley, Yvette Janine Jackson, Renske Vrolijk.

Festival performers hail from United States and Europe. University of Chicago Carillonneur Joey Brink will be joined by Yale University’s Emily Dickenson, University of Michigan’s Tiffany Ng, and, from the Amsfoort Carillon School in the Netherlands, Franz Haagen. Several carillon students from the University of Chicago will also be performing.

There will be a reception at 5:30 pm on Friday, where the public can meet performers, composers, and festival organizers. Following this reception, Ripple Effects for carillon 24 hands will receive its premiere. Written by University of Chicago Professor Augusta Read Thomas, this piece was commissioned by the Chapel for this event.

The Rockefeller Carillon New Music Festival takes place at the Rockefeller Chapel, on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. Friday, May 25, 2018, 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. Free.